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Time went excruciating slow. It took much of his will just to balance himself and the abyss.

Kopa looked deep into Kiara's piercing eyes. He threw his entire weight forward, leaning as much as he could. His wet paws clinging against hers. Slipping. Her reflection started to blur. Didn't know what to say, except regrets.

"Kiara big sister! I can't hold any longer! You have to let it go!"

Tears started streaming down his cheeks. "Tell Vitani, that I cannot come to her play date tommorrow!"

And then he released his grip, slipping into the darkness. "Goodbye."

~

That was the last of it, Idir thought as one of his paws forcefully dragged down his opponent into the waters below. Chilly. With a loud splash, Kopa dropped into the fast moving waters like a deadweight. With this height of a steep drop, it is unlikely Kiara would follow. Besides, she would have to warn Simba and her annoying brother, Kion. Peering out into the darkness he waited for Kiara to leave before launching into the water.

"Help! VITANI! KIARA! KION! Anybody ! Please, I'm down here!" Kopa began to thrash at the gushing tide, trying to balance on a log. Idir pushed himself up without the tawny cub noticing. He would have drifted away to sleep if not for a loud thud against the sideways of his head.

"No! No! 'Tani! Is that you! Did you come to my rescuse! 'Tani!"

One last scream.

What a wuss. Idir responded by grabbing his neck tuft before ramming against the log hard. Kopa struggled briefly before going cold. Rolling his eyes, he placed the unconscious cub on his back, hugging the bloodied log as the log led to a nearby river exit.

It had been hard in this weather condition. Still, from the river bank, he dragged Kopa into the nearby bushes before beginning a difficult trek into the canyons where Zira hideout lurks...

I wonder what stupid enemies I will be facing next. And damned it if they do. A cub with another cub equals to an easy snack. What Zira is thinking?

At the termite mounds, Kovu groaned, rubbing the tuft on his head that now ran a little ways down his neck as he shook himself to regain composure. His mother had dealt a heavy blow this time and his already rigorous training had become even more difficult of late. She'd made her current plan known all throughout the Outland Pride, and quite honestly, the youngster felt betrayed. He'd met the Pridelanders a few times, and he'd wanted to befriend them, 'tis true, but he'd been training all his life to usurp the throne from Simba, and now... now suddenly Zira was doing this? She was taking away what had always made him special, if he understood her correctly. This training time that had been just for the two of them, he and his mother, would be shared with the young prince, Kopa, who Zira planned to train to fight (and kill, presumably) the lions of the Pridelands, including Simba, the king he'd trained to usurp. Aside from taking his position, it seemed unnecessarily cruel, even considering how evil Simba was.

"I don't see why we can't just carry on with the plan as it was," he grumbled. Zira swatted him harshly, baring her fangs in a vicious snarl.

"Because you are too weak alone! Do you really think that you will be able to defeat Kion by yourself? His Lion Guard changes everything, Kovu, and if you were as cunning as Scar, you'd understand the need to adapt to new information! With Kopa at your side, you won't even have to befriend the princess to get close. With him at your side, you can get rid of Simba, and Kion, while they are unsuspecting. Now get up! I didn't give you permission to take a break!"

Zira was proud of Kovu, though it didn't tend to show, and she worried about him, in her own way. She knew that he wasn't currently skilled enough for the task she had in store for him, and the best way to toughen one up was to put them through extreme physical challenges. She sparred with him and had him run obstacle courses on a daily basis. For the moment, she sent her son scurrying off on such a course, one that led him up a cliff on the opposite side of crocodile-infested waters and back. Until Idir returned, she'd continue hovering over Kovu, overseeing his training...

Kiara tried to reach for Kopa's paw. He was slipping out of her grasp, and that alone was enough to make tears sting her eyes. Sure, they'd always fought before, always teased each other, always gotten on each other's nerves, the way that siblings - and especially littermates - tended to do... but she never wished actual harm upon him. She never wanted him to actually go this far. Not like this. Not in this way. It was perverse, it was... wrong. Already a well of guilt was forming deep inside of her; her claws dug in. Anything to keep him from slipping away. Anything to keep him from leaving her.

"You have to let it go!"

His voice and face and eyes were so desperate, she couldn't bear to look at them. She couldn't bear to feel their weight as they bore into her skull and sheltered themselves inside her ravaged mind. It was the sort of face, the sort of look, the sort of situation that one could never forget, and was likely to trouble her sleep in the days to come. When tears came to his eyes, she mirrored him, and many harrowing sobs caused her whole body to tremble and shake like a flimsy building during an earthquake.

The prince said something else, something she couldn't make out, and then... he let go. On his own. Through no effort of her own.

She reached out her paw for him but he was already falling. The last she saw of him was his resigned countenance, his vaguely sorrowful eyes, his coarse goldenrod pelt that was slick with mud... and then he became nothing but a small orange dot against the rushing rapids below. He splashed in; they enveloped him in their gaping maw. She knew the currents would chew him up, break his body and unleash their wrath upon him... and then the river water would swallow him, letting him sink into the chilled aquamarine depths of its gorge.

There was nothing she could do, now.

Had he let go to make her feel less guilty, though? Had he done it as one final act of self-deprecation? A statement that said that he didn't even believe in the value of his own life anymore? Or was it a taunt? Something that he could haunt her with, to tell her that this was inevitable, that she could do nothing if not destroy him?

She didn't know. None of it even made any sense. An hour ago they'd just been exploring, they'd just been happy-go-lucky kids, and now... one was dead, and the other was feeling something die inside of her.

Even when she knew the rapids had pulled him far away, even when she knew that it was hopeless, she continued to look for his form bouncing up against the water. Even though she likely wouldn't have been able to see him, so far below, she tried, anyway. Even when things were long over, and everyone else had found her and was ready to take her home, she didn't leave.

And even when the daylight had disappeared, even when the moon had risen above the savanna and bathed them in a silvery light... even when there was no hope of anything changing for the better, she was still dying.

Last edited by Gemini on January 29th, 2016, 5:31 am, edited 2 times in total.

Vitani had been watching on the other side of the gorge, behind a rock formation where no one could see her. Zira had put her in charge of making sure everything went as planned, and that was exactly what she was going to do. As she watched Kopa slipping off the edge, though, she felt the urge to run over to the other side and help Kiara pull him back up to safety. She dug her claws into the ground below her to keep herself from doing so, though. She knew that if Zira ever found out what she did, there would be terrible consequences.

"Tell Vitani that I cannot come to her play date tomorrow," she heard Kopa say. Oh, we'll spend plenty of time together tomorrow, Kopa, she thought. It will just be a different situation.

She watched as the prince fell off of the side of the cliff and down into the water, where Idir was waiting for him. She heard Kopa's calls for help. She heard him calling her name, even though he was very faint, and it took everything in her not to go help him. She instead looked over to the other side, where Kiara was. She couldn't leave until the princess was gone, because everything was open ground around her, with nothing to hide under. If she ran away at that moment, she would look suspicious. She knew that very well. So she played the waiting game, keeping her head just a little bit above the rock to watch Kiara. The princess never left, though. Come on! When will you leave? she wondered.

She saw some of the other Pridelanders come towards Kiara and groaned. The sun was already beginning to set, and now she would have to rely on the dark of the night to hide her if none of them left soon. She knew Zira was probably really worried about where she was. She just hoped her mother wouldn't get the wrong idea.

***

Nala found Kiara at the edge of the gorge, all alone. It had been over an hour since she and her brother had left, and she had grown worried and went to find them. When she saw only Kiara, though, she became very worried.

"You are one of the pride's fastest scouts. I want you to scout the area with Nala. She might miss a thing or two."

Zula nodded and left with Nala.

***Zula finally paused after a good 10 mins stride. Upon arrival at the nearby rocks, she noticed a strong stench of blood, mixed with crushed bones, internal organs & brain matter strewn all over. There were even traces of Kopa's hair and mane. She roared loudly, alerting the others nearby to detach from Nala to arrive at the grisly scene. Shakingly she stumbled and fell.

"The prince is dead! Kopa is... dead. Come quickly! Help! My queen! You have to see this..."

Finally, Simba caught up, drenched like a fish out of water from the sudden nasty weather. As his eyes opened to a horrible sight, he pushed away another lioness.

"Kopa...but...how?! Who did this? To my son? And this trail of blood leads next to the ravine. Kiara...I want you to explain everything... You are supposed to look after him! He's only a little cub! How was he smashed against the rocks!"

****Idir:

Idir simply rolled his eyes as he draped a piece of aloe vera against Kopa's wounds. He did not want a captive to die on him. Setting him against a tree, the tawny cub inspected for further wounds from the body to his tail.

Such a sweet little cub... if only they hadn't been enemies. And the corpse I have planted should give Vitani a chance to flee. Unfortunately I had to give away most of it to Nuka when we were doing the whole thing. Greedy, greedy outlander! He wanted most of the share but did little to help. Stupid. Where's Vitani? Is she coming to help or do I have to do it myself ?!

***Nuka burst into the training session, holding a small carcass in his mouth. Setting it down to his mother and kovu, he jumped in joy.

"Mother! Mother! You cannot believe what I found! I found food for the both of us! Better than the chosen one!"

Kion was aware that his siblings went to play together, but he had no idea what happened there, not to mention of Kopa's death. He was doing what he always does, protecting the Pride Lands with his friends and enjoying himself, leading relatively care-free life. As care-free as the life of the Lion Guard leader can be, though. He couldn't imagine that Zira would plot anything against him and his friends. Not to mention involve his brother in it.

He came back to the Pride Lands in the evening, not suspecting anything, still. He was confused when he couldn't find Kopa anywhere. All the other lions were there, and he so Kiara, and he knew they were together.

Kovu examined the carcass, remaining quiet but thinking to himself that it wasn't an impressive feat. However, he was well aware of how desperately Nuka wanted to please their mother, so he figured if Zira was pleased, he'd keep his mouth shut. She was not pleased. She was livid. Sneering, she swatted the carcass away, descending upon Nuka angrily.

"You dare interrupt my training of your brother over that morsel?!" she snarled fiercely, "Food for the both of us, indeed! Stop wasting my time and feed that to Idir and your sister on their return... Now get out of my sight!"

With that, she returned to Kovu and their training, ignoring the presence of her eldest son once more.

Kiara was resting on the same rock where she'd last seen Kopa. And it was obvious - by now at least - that he wasn't coming back. It was too late, it was too dark, it was too cold... there was simply no way that he could still be alive. Not with the weak swimmer he was. The only way he could've survived was if someone pulled him out, and that... she knew that that was impossible.

A part of her still couldn't believe it. The princess panicked and bit back tears and all at once there was a terrible fire burning in her chest and in her eyes and she couldn't feel anything and she couldn't see anything through the heavy film of sadness blurring her vision and suddenly the tears were streaking her cheeks, warm and wet and salty like her soul was now salty and bitter. And now she hated herself, she hated herself with a visceral burning passion that told her that she was a screw-up, that no mistake she had ever made in life, or could ever make, would ever come close to comparing to this. She had made a fatal error... and for that, she would never be able to forgive herself. The carefree, happy-go-lucky, innocent cub she had once been was already being changed forever. Even now... she knew that things could never be the same.

Kion picked a bad time to show up. Her parents were in tow, and she knew they would ask. Ask the dreaded question. Kiara tried to formulate a response in her head, tried to arrange the words in a way that would sound pleasing to her... but there was nothing. It all promptly disappeared when her youngest sibling piped in with "Kiara? Where's Kopa?"

A lethal stab to her heart. And now her mother was there, also asking and also looking expectant, looking worried, looking like a part of her already knew the worst had happened and was grappling with it, but trying to remain strong for her only daughter, who wept at her feet.

"He's gone... I," she sobbed pitifully, "I couldn't save him."

It was all she could manage to croak out through her stifled throat. Nala looked distraught. Kiara couldn't see Kion's expression, but she was absolutely sure that he was simply too shocked for words, and when they came to him, he would certainly rail on her for being careless, for not doing her duty as the oldest sibling, for not being the future queen and taking responsibility like he had with the Lion Guard.

But, to her surprise, he was silent. At least for now. There was no telling what he, or the other members of the Guard, would say to her.

"Kiara, come on. Let's go home. It's getting dark."

The young cub nodded silently, and it took everything she had in her to follow. It was a long, hard walk back to Pride Rock... and a part of her heart would always remain, separated and broken, down underneath the water in that gorge...

Nala looked over where Zula was standing and immediately wished she hadn’t. What she saw made her sick to her stomach. Her youngest child was now dead. She couldn’t believe it.

“He’s gone… I couldn’t save him.”

Nala couldn’t believe it, but she knew it was true. She saw the remains of his body after being hit against the raging waters down below. Kopa was dead, and there was nothing they could do about it now. As they all walked back home, she noticed Kiara was going slower than usual. It reminded her of how she felt when Scar had told everyone that Simba had supposedly died. The main difference between those two times, though, was that there was no visible evidence of Simba’s death, while there was of Kopa’s. She knew there was absolutely no chance of him being alive, and that hurt her a lot.

***

Vitani took advantage of the distraction of “Kopa’s” body and ran away from her hiding spot, running down to the bottom of the gorge where Idir was. She noticed him applying aloe vera to the youngest prince and sighed.

“How did he get those wounds?” she asked. “Mother won’t be very happy about that.”

She looked up for a brief moment to see everyone including Kiara finally leaving. She was glad. Now getting Kopa back home would be pretty easy.

"You dare interrupt my training of your brother over that morsel?!" Zira snarled fiercely, "Food for the both of us, indeed! Stop wasting my time and feed that to Idir and your sister on their return... Now get out of my sight!"

"Yes, mother. I will get out as you say. I will go escort 'Tani."

That's mother for you. Always angry. Always favoring the chosen one. Always Kovu, Kovu, Kovu. Geez, mother, stop freaking out like that and let me have some glory. What's the point in being so angry all the time?

Nuka gave his back ear another scratch before smashing a termite mould nearby. Zira's scolding was like icing on a stale cake. Nothing was ever enough to please her. Kovu would sure to gloat afterwards.

Only the other lioness nearby would show faces of sympathy. It was like, one big comforting facade. If only, little Kovu could understand the sacrifices he do for the pride.

Nuka gave one last cry to the duo as he headed down the path towards Vitani's location, picking up the carcass.

"Mother! When you will understand me one day?! Why always Kovu? I don't understand."

***Simba

"Mummy! What happened to...." An inquisitive cub poked Zula.

"Don't look!" Zula hugged her cub tightly. "This is a tragic day for our kingdom!

"But Mummy, I don't understand..."

Simba scanned the sea of faces before him. Some upset. Some guilty. Some angry. They have the right to criticize freely. His beloved Prince was no more. Kiara had failed in her duty; not only as a future Queen, but as an older sister. It was a simple job and she had botch it.

He watched his daughter's tears fell like raindrops, yet he gave a hardened look. He almost felt sorry. Almost. But it wasn't her all her fault. Maybe being Kopa was too young to play outside.

The well-built lion looked towards his lovely mate, and leaned his neck on her. "Nala, please. There's nothing more to be done. Kopa is dead. Instead of crying, we should let Rafiki began our funeral procession with the lion guard in charge." He touched her face sadly and he signalled the rest of the pride to head back to pride rock.

The world is indeed harsh.

Why did Kopa have to die?

Simba had a jolt of nervousness, his steps wobble, as if he grew old and weary. Stressful. Shivery cold.

As the crowd move on, the unhappy ruler pulled both Kion and Kiara aside."Kion. Kopa is dead. I want you to find out why with your Lion Guard. Kiara, you did all you could. I know you are upset. But do not blame yourself, and look forward as the future Queen. You will assist your brother. Understood?"

Giving a nod, Simba whispered into Nala's ears. "We will find out the truth. No matter what happens, our pride will grow stronger!"

***

Idir

"Let the banners flutter, we want to assault, freely as lansquenets do... Weit lasst die Fahnen wehen," Idir exhales deeply as he sang an old song as he rub more of the cooling gel on Kopa's right leg. A dark shadow overwhelmed their presence.

“How did he get those wounds?” A voice asked. “Mother won’t be very happy about that.” It's a deep tone looking back at him with hatred. Who could it be? Just a cub with dark eye rims, angular rims. Piercing azure eyes and somewhat a darker looking tawny patch all over her body, partially covered by the moonlight. Idir knew who that was. Vitani. Why, of course, that hag sent her to watch over him.

“We better get going. We’ve been gone long enough,” she said.

"Mother, you say?" Idir countered before letting out a laugh. "Only you will be concerned with Kopa getting hurt! Zira only orders were to bring him back to your home, by any means necessary. It does not mean I couldn't hurt poor little Kopa! You and your selfish desires of love!"

He looks at Kopa, lifts him to his back and started to move towards the destination. "I'm sorry, friend. And Vitani. You show the new location where Zira is. Pronto!"

***

Kopa

As it turns out, some of the blurry images started to take form. Kopa clenched his teeth. His eyelids heavy. Voices.

Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus on what you know.

Vitani! She must know! I gotta tell her to rescue me! But it's so hard with this rocky motion!

Steadily from Idir's back, Kopa's paw shot out and grab her back leg. What he saw was his love and only chance before everything dies.

He let out a strain voice, holding back a few tears.

"Vitani! I'm sorry! I got angry at you when I shouldn't! Please don't do this to me! I never told you this but I love you."